It’s not surprising that many people have no idea about website hosting and how to go about organise it the right way. While us ‘techie people’ think it’s as easy as breathing, many are intimidated and quite often get sucked in to spending more than they have to simply because they don’t really know. Kind of like not knowing about mechanics, and then being told by a mechanic that your engine needs replacing when really an oil change and a service are all that is needed.

The process for hosting a web site can be made simple as long as you know or know someone who knows a few basics like:

How/where to register a domain name

How/where to manage your domain name

How/where to set up a web hosting account

And of course building the site itself

How/where to set up emails

How to sort out Search Engine Optimisation

So when it comes to web hosting, you need to find someone who knows what they’re doing unless you’re willing to learn it all yourself.

Luckily my company DISKMANdotNet has had over 20 years experience in this exact area. Our longevity in this business has been the saviour of many clients. Some of our clients have been with us from day one. It’s because we know what we’re doing, we make it easy for the client and they don’t have to worry about any of this at all. I am glad I don’t have to look after my own teeth. I have a dentist for that!

More often than we’d like to remember we’ve had to take that phone call from a client who is in tears, their web site is gone, their emails wont work and they have no idea where to go next. Luckily they’ve had a friend or colleague point them in my direction and within a few hours or days we’ve got everything back in order. Domain name, web site and emails all reactivated. Happy days for all.

Writing posts for your news or blog section on your web site can be intimidating. Even if you have and idea for or written your post you may be time poor; or you haven’t got the expertise to set it up in your blog (such as WordPress).

Among Saints

Bob and I caught up at KP in Round 13, 2014 vs Saints (something about Saints games and Bob eh?)

“Do you want to come into the rooms and meet the players?” asked Bob the doorman.

We were at Linton Street, the old home of the Saints. We snuck in under a wire fence at the Doonga Avenue end of the ground. The Cats were getting smashed so Nic and I went walkabout half way through the last quarter, eventually making our way past the players’ entrance of the Geelong rooms. That’s where we met Bob.

I was twelve, my cousin Nic was sixteen; he is my Saint Nic. He’s watched over me all of my life; it’s a special bond. Bob let us in the rooms and we waited. Our heroes burst in. We’d never been in the rooms before. Andrews Bews was my favourite player and once introduced we struck a friendship which lasts to this day. That was 32 years ago. Memories of that day stir me every time the Cats play the Saints.

Tonight Darl and I are at Etihad Stadium, sitting at the St. Kilda cheer-squad end, a couple of Cats supporters amidst a throng of Saints. Bob the doorman has retired to the Gold Coast and no longer can we sneak into the ground from under a fence. But at least we’re at Etihad where it is comfortable; a good place for warm-up beers and customary catch-up with friends.

The Cats team takes on a particularly familiar look with Pops, the Joshinator (Hunt), Smithy (Joel Corey) and Chappy all back in the team. Tomahawk is fit after KO’ing himself last week against the Eagles. But, as we’ve become accustomed, it’s another player, the unheralded Taylor Hunt who gets the Cats rolling with the two opening goals of the game.

The Cats have the Saints on the back foot until…enter the Tip-Rat: Stephen Milne. A snapped goal gets him started. In the same minute, another goal to Geary and the Cats superior effort in opening minutes seems to have been in vain. Saints fans find their voice; the Sainter two seats up senses a menacing opponent and tries to rev me up.

He succeeds. Darl gives me that look.

The third 50 metre penalty of the quarter comes after Duncan takes a strong mark against Gram. Duncan sends a long kick to the goal square to find West who takes a strong Glenn Middlemiss-like mark in front of goal. West’s goal steadies the Cats and Tomahawk opens his account. His second goal is a carbon-copy of his famous match-winner against the Hawks a couple of weeks ago. Fifty-five metres out, slight angle, dead straight. A late goal to the Saints keeps them in touch.

In the second quarter, the Cats are tentative. The Tip Rat goals again. The Saints dish out attention to Joel Selwood keeping him quiet. In fact they are a bit more aggressive than usual. Saint Lenny smashes Taylor Hunt’s nose in a brutal but fair bump.

The Saints keep ‘in touch’ until about half way through the quarter when the Cats play some inspiring football: four goals in thirteen minutes put Geelong in command by half-time.

A flurry of half-time text messages between my Saint Nic and me confirm two things. He’s happy with the Cats first half effort and equally unhappy at being stuck at a work function and unable to get to the game. I keep him up to date.

No one saw the change coming. The Cats can’t get their hands on the ball in the third quarter. The Saints play relentless footy and the Cats struggle to find the right match-ups on their smalls.

Seat 33 is really up and about: he’s going on about the umps are and how lucky the Cats are to be in the game. The Saints keep us goal-less for the term, but they’re still to hit the lead. Darl is two minutes away from divorcing herself from the game –and me.

Holding their nerve, the Saints check their cards and raise the stakes. Through quick goals to Saad and Schneider they get to within a point early in the final quarter. Flashbacks to the 2009 Grand Final flood back. Another close one? We need Max Rooke and the Moon Dog.

It seems that for the last forty minutes the Saints have been playing with two extra men. Or have the Cats been playing with two less?

These concerns are allayed when the J-Pod flies and purposefully taps the ball to the roving Hawkins who snaps the second most timely goal of his career. Then superb long-range goals to Murdoch (he reminds me of a young Riccardi) and Mackie, and Tomahawk snags his sixth of the night. The Cats have finally put their foot down. Old mate next to us concedes.

The Cats were pushed and when all seemed critical they responded. Watch out in the finals. If we’re ‘on’ for four quarters we will do some damage.

Postscript:The Cats lost that game at Linton St in 1980 by just 5 points after being down by 27 points at three-quarter time.

It’s always a thrill to see my work up in lights, but the ultimate compliment is when one of the stars I shoot uses the photo I take of them in one shape or another. Recently I’ve had some really favorable feedback on the quality of my photos. Dressed to Chill were amazed at my photos of them and KISSTROYER have always been massive fans of my work. But to have Eric Singer, KISS drummer, use my photo as his Facebook profile photo has seriously blown my mind! I am so thrilled, you have no idea. The reason I shoot is partially motivated by financial reasons, but from an artist’s point of view having another artist acknowledge my art in such a positive way makes all the blood, sweat and tears all worth it.

It’s that time of the year for footy! Footy tipping and fantasy football competitions have been springing up and there’s a lot to consider. If you’re a fantasy football team manager then you might need some help creating or managing your team. The boys ate Mad Monday are there to help you with player and team reviews.

Visit www.madmondayshow.com and see what George and Justin have to say about your team and favorite players.

Premierships are the benchmark of successful teams. Geelong had been starved of real success since 1963. A founding member of the league as we know it, influential on the rules as we know them, the once powerful Geelong had become mediocre. A spate of losing efforts in Grand Finals dating back to 1967 against Richmond, 1989 against Hawthorn, 1992 and 1994 against West Coast and in 1995 against the Blues, teased us supporters and Geelong had become known as the ‘handbag team’ of the competition. Together with a lack of success on field and financial trouble, Geelong looked to be a real mess.

The year 2000 saw Mark Thompson appointed as Senior Coach. His mission was to rekindle and revamp, the team. He saw that a rebuild was in order and over that 2000 season (finished 5th) and the following one in 2001 (finished 12th) blooded some impressive talent, mixed in with some older heads who could show the young guns the way. The plan was laid, the new team unveiled in the reserves. The seniors road was still going to be rocky; because the young guys had to do their time in the reserves and slowly be introduced into the seniors, the old blood trained the new breed ‘on the job’.

In 2002 Geelong reserves (VFL team) showed something extraordinary. The young guns, unearthed by Stephen Wells (recruiting manager at the Cats) provided a glimpse as to what the future team would look like, when it conquered Port Melbourne, by 22 points to win the VFL Premiership.

In that team there were players who were relatively untried and unknown and they included: Gary Ablett, Steve Johnson, Paul Chapman, Josh Hunt, Jim Bartel, James Kelly… these players have now gone on to become common household AFL names and Premiership superstars. That game also saw the exit of Tim McGrath and David Mensch.

A new look team started to take shape. Add to this, impressive list, the likes of Cameron Ling, Cameron Mooney, Corey Enright, Joel Corey, Tom Harley, David Wojcinski and of course Matty Scarlett who debuted with one game in 1999.

This was the new breed.

2002 VFL Grand Final

In 2012, there was a strange feeling ‘around the Club’; with an ageing list of players, some already retired or moved on from that fantastic list of 1999-2002. We’d got used to winning. We were used to playing finals. Funny isn’t it? Another oxymoron in the football world. Pre-2000 we were used to losing. Used to having a vacant calendar September to do something other than go to finals matches. The 2012 season was a series of ups and downs, but we always felt like we’d make the top eight. Perhaps even defy history and win the big one from outside the top 4 relying just on muscle memory alone. As it turned out, the Cats made an inglorious exit in Elimination week; we were nonetheless proud of our team. From all angles there was talk of the ‘era’ being all but gone.

True believers, like me, are not wanting to buy into the assumption of the era being gone. We have new faith. They say that faith is believing in a cause with no real evidence to back it up with. The recent ‘golden era’ has given us evidence, tangible reasons to believe; here’s some evidence: since that VFL premiership day in 2002, the Cats have won 3 AFL premierships, 2 AFL Pre Season premierships, 2 VFL premiership, 2 Brownlow Medals, 3 norm Smith Medals, almost a whole team worth of All-Australians and many other awards, the list too long to mention. In addition, Stephen Wells and the recruiting team have continued their outstanding work by unearthing even more talent which promises to keep stoking the faith fire for a time to come.

Can these Cats fill the massive boots being left by the Cats of 2002?

It has been less than 24 hours since (at the time of writing) that the siren on the VFL season blasted and in that solitary note possibly heralded a second coming. The Cats again conquered Port Melbourne for the VFL premiership, this time by 33 points. Could this VFL premiership in 2012 signal the same or similar for Geelong as what 2002, in hindsight, was for that team?

The list is changing, old breed being exchanged for new. New names, new heroes. Horlin-Smith, Kersten, Brown, Burbury, Stringer, Walker, Sherringham, Gillies, Schroder, Simpkin (to name a few), unfamiliar names to many, lead the changing of the guard. These players have been watching the golden era and have been salivating at the thought of their own success. In the meantime they have honoured the retirements of Simon Hogan and David Wojcinski and at the same time announce themselves as they take a firm grip of the reigns. If success breeds more success, then Geelong is in good shape and can look forward to more sustained successful eras.

Add to the mix, Selwood, Hawkins, Duncan, Christensen, West, Guthrie, Motlop, Taylor Hunt, Varcoe, Menzel and Vardy the future looks bright. Will we be looking back at this VFL Premiership team in a few years time as the catalyst of another great Cats era… let’s hope so.

‘table_name’ is the name of the table where the content you want to change resides

‘field_name’ is the name of the field inside the table where the content you want to change resides

‘unwanted_text’ is the text you want to find so that it can be replaced

‘wanted_text’ is the new text you want to insert

So for example let’s way you wanted to find every reference to “www.diskman.net” and replace it with “www.jamesdemetrie.com” within your database, you would firstly do a search in PHPMyAdmin and see where the references lie. Once you know what table the data you want to replace is, you can then browse to see what field they are within. Once you know what table and what field you can then apply the syntax above.

WARNING…. be careful, search first to see the results of your query before you commit the changes, and always backup prior to any database work.

Power House senior team runs out for battle against Old Westbourne on 11 August 2012

I’ve been involved with Power House footy club since 1985, I played just 66 games for the Club over 15 seasons (I retired from playing in 2000). I’ve been a player, a committee man and since 1995 my business DISKMANdotNet has been the Club’s web designer, domain name and web hosting provider and more recently I’ve been an official photographer. Everytime I go to the Club I get a really special feeling. There’s no better place when I am there. The clubrooms, the smell of liniment, the sight of the boys running out in the Green, White and Black; it stirs really special memories. Makes me want to pull on a pair of boots and join them!

Being involved with the Club post-retirement is something which I really enjoy doing. Giving back to the Club is really important to me as it gave so much to me. It’s part of my identity and it feels great when I share that ‘my Club is Power House’ in conversations with people close and far from the Club. “My Club”….

When I think of Power House, I stand tall and I am proud. I am positive I am not alone with this feeling.

The reason I love Power House so much is the history of the place. The characters which make up the Club are amongst some of the best people I know. Their passion for the Club is infectious and you can’t help but being caught up by it. From my past team mates, young and old, to the ‘old timers’ whose very shoulders the Club was built upon, to the present players; they are all important to me.

The Club was originally founded in 1940, but it wasn’t until 1947 (after the war) when it was resurrected and joined the VAFA. Since then it has won 7 Premierships (U19’s, Reserves and Seniors), has had 2 players awarded with 300 game status by the VAFA and has had numerous VAFA Victorian representatives. More Club history can be viewed on the PHFC web site.

A great example of how my Club comes together to support, remember and appreciate each other is last Saturday (11 August 2012) when the Club hosted a Past Players’ Luncheon in memory of Les Gordon. Sadly we lost Les this year and it was fitting to dedicate the lunch and the game day in Les’ name.

A bit about Les Gordon

Les is the games record holder for the Power House Football Club. He played 357 games in a playing career that spanned 1952 – 1971. Les is a 4-time Seniors Best and Fairest winner (1960, 1961, 1962 and 1964) and was Senior Captain in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1971. He was Senior Coach for 6 seasons. He was a member of the 1959 Invincibles Premiership Team and was Senior Playing Captain-Coach of the 1971 Premiership Team. In 2011, Les was elevated to LEGEND status of the Power House Football Club.

I’ll never be a legend of the Club, I’ll never be a Life Member and I’ll never be one of the greats; but that’s ok by me because in my own way I played my part in the past and I continue to play a different part now which many people associated with the Club appreciate. It’s enough to make ‘my’ heart grow glad. I am proud to be involved and lending my hand to recording and promoting the Club’s history.

The Footy Show’s (Sam Mitchell’s) gag about Alastair Clarkson being found in the images section of Google images was just that… a hopeless gag… but to prove how Keywords are important for SEO and how DISKMANdotNet can help you with your web site’s ‘find-ability’ within Google; we’ve embarked on this exercise.

In the next 24-48 hours, search for ‘angry little man’ in Google and see if you can find either this post in the organic results, or the image to the right in the images results within Google.